"Harlem Gang Leader," Life, cover

According to Gordon Parks, after the editors finished the layout of the issue, they called him in to show him the final version. To his surprise and chagrin, the editors had chosen one of his pictures, of Red Jackson holding a smoking gun, for the cover of the issue. Parks says that he fought against this decision, believing that the trust he had earned with Jackson would be violated. In the end, though, Parks would be forced to find the negative in the lab and destroy it. As a result, he lost the cover and his story ran deep inside, beginning on page 96.